Leaving Seattle and getting settled in Miraflores

Seattle
I forgot to mention last week that my wonderful cousins, Molly and Sara, came to Seattle and were so kind to let me stay in their hotel room when it was 100 degrees. We took the ferry to Bainbridge to the Public House Pub by the marina, again, and enjoyed a very memorable going away dinner. Thanks girls!

The Blue Angels were practicing their routine for the SeaFair and it was amazing to see and then a few seconds later hear them roar by.




It's been a busy week being the only blond in Lima (as far as I can tell).

Lima
My luggage arrive on Monday which was lucky and I found a nice apartment to move into next week with a Peruvian, Johnny. I'll live on the third floor (up two spiral staircases) with a private bedroom and bathroom. We made a trip to the Metro, Peru's equivalent of Target, to buy household items and thanks goodness for my handy pocket dictionary (thank you Lizz) to ask where "hangers" and "hair dryer" were located.

Miraflores

I have been running in the morning in Miraflores with panoramic views of the ocean and often surfers in wetsuits (see above). Larcomar is a fancy outdoor mall along the cliffs. I love it! It's winter here and so the temperatures have been in the 50 and 60s and overcast which is great for running, and that's about it. I guess it can't get any worse and compared to a Minnesota winter I really can't complain. The only problem is I haven't found anyone to play futbol with yet but it's only my first week.

We've been meeting with important researchers here the past few days: the head of the Navy research center, NMRCD, head of the IRBs in Peru, and my mentors in Lima, Dr Jorge Alarcon and Dr Silvia Montano at San Marcos University. Most of our daily conversations and training are in Spanish which is challenging for me. I get the gist of it and thankfully my fellow Fogarty friends, Miranda and Christina, can understand. The hospitals are only an hour and a half away from Miraflores on the combis, the crazy minibuses that are like a $0.30 roller coaster ride. Oh well!

Spanish class
Hable un poquito espanol (I speak very little Spanish) and so I have been working very hard to improve. I have a private tutor three days a week and she's wonderful. Very patient and only speaks to me in Spanish. I also bought five childrens books (reading level 6 years old, seriously). The nice lady at the Feria del Libro at the National Museum was so kind to recommend her favorite books but laughed when I said that they were for me. I basically look up every other word in the dictionary but I'm learning. I am on level 2 of my Rosetta Stone and it is way harder than level 1! Last, but not least, I am taking three weeks of intensive small group lessons at El Sol which is only a few blocks away. I take my placement test tomorrow and I'm crossing my fingers to pass out of beginner and into pre-intermediate. I would love to talk to you on skype if you know Spanish and would like to teach me or brush up (you might want to give me a week or two).

There are a few things that we've got planned.
Aug. 22 - Hike laguna de rapagna. It's only 4500m (14700ft) - you may be thinking that we're crazy and you're right! We probably will get massive headaches but it will be fun!
Aug. 30 - Media Maraton Lima (half marathon through Lima and along the beach) Wish me luck!
Sept. 5-8 - Go to Arequipa. Romina and I are flying down to Arequipa for the weekend to meet my project co-investigators so I can get started with the data analysis on the PREVENCION database.

Adios!

Spoiled

We are staying in the University of Washington - Seattle dorms and it's quite a different environment from the extravagant DoubleTree Bethesda that we were used to. I miss the penthouse workout room and rooftop pool, the warm cookies and instant room service, flat screen television, large beds with 6 pillows, and nice, clean showers. I forgot what it's like to live and eat in a dorm. I'm sharing a tiny room that has a window that won't open and has no blinds to keep out the sun at 6am, two "closets", paper thin walls, and a shared bathroom for 8+ people that has one toilet, one urinal and ONLY one shower! Unlike soccer camps when I was young, I didn't bring my fan, pillow, clothes line or hangers, hair dryer, shower sandals and tote. Despite feeling prepared to move to an apartment in a foreign country in less than two weeks, I feel completely unprepared for dorm living! Not to mention I still haven't caught up on sleep on my three inch thick, extra-long twin mattress. I can't wait to go to Vancouver this weekend with my boyfriend Seth and see my old friends, Lauren and Jon!

A whirlwind weekend

The past 3 days I have had approximately 12 hours of sleep. Why? You may ask. This is the craziest group of intellectual people and I am currently their fearless leader.

We had our goodbye dinner on Thursday and went to a club and danced to Michael Jackson (among others) until 3am. Friday and Saturday we had to give presentations at 8am but that didn't stop the group from reliving the dance party from the night before after the Friday night baseball game.

Have you ever been to a baseball game with someone who has no idea how to play? My new friends from South Africa, Tanzania, Peru, and China went to a Washington Nationals baseball game for the first time and I spent most the time explaining the purpose: to eat hot dogs and drink beer and not really worry what the heck a strike or ball was... it was very entertaining! Cubs won 3-1.

Saturday morning attendance was sparse since most presentations were completed but I was giving our group's presentation (on 3 hours of sleep). My group was awesome and we were well prepared to discuss our proposed CIRKS study (Circumcision in Rural Kenya in Serodiscordant Couples).

Some of the ladies, including myself, went for pedicures to celebrate our completion of two intensive weeks of NIH training. A final goodbye dinner on Saturday lead to more dancing until 3 am and when our Super Shuttle arrived at 3:45am this morning I had had approximately 45 minutes of sleep. The 5+ hour flight arrived at 9:45 Western time and we've been sightseeing all day. I am exhausted!


The famous Pike Street Market with street artists, flying fish, fresh fruit, and beautiful flowers for $5-$10 a bouquet.


The Space Needle. 520 feet tall built in 1962 for the World's Fair.


The view from the top of the Space Needle of Mount Rainier, also known as Tahoma (or mother of waters) to the Native Americans and is an active volcano that towers 14,411 ft. It was a beautiful July afternoon.